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Randi Winter
Partner
Minneapolis Office Managing Partner
Overview
Randi Winter helps her clients achieve favorable litigation outcomes with respect to business, employment, and licensing disputes. She also represents clients in matters involving health law, labor law, and utility law. She is experienced in all facets of litigation and arbitration, but has particularly enjoyed helping clients, both large and small, obtain trial victories before judges and juries in federal and state court.
A large component of Randi’s practice is focused on helping commercial clients navigate complex, multi-party and multi-claim litigation and trust instruction proceedings. She has played an active role in the prosecution and defense of cases involving claims of contractual indemnification, fraud, and antitrust violations. Throughout her career, Randi has litigated many disputes surrounding mortgage origination practices.
Another area of focus for Randi involves helping clients navigate sensitive and contentious employment disputes, particularly the defense of claims alleging discrimination and retaliation. Her employment practice also entails non-compete litigation, providing general employment law advice, and helping individual and business clients negotiate employment agreements. Randi has found that successful client advocacy requires preparedness, enthusiasm, and a willingness to think outside the box.
Credentials
Education
- University of Minnesota School of Law, 2010 (J.D.), Order of the Coif, magna cum laude
- Hamline University, 2007 (B.A.), summa cum laude
Court Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
- U.S. Tax Court
- U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
- U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
- Lead counsel in defending multiple hybrid class/collective actions in 2022-2024 alleging overtime violations for candy manufacturer, including court-approved settlement of collective involving over 1,000 workers employed by manufacturer and seven temporary staffing agencies.
- Successfully secured $1.75 million settlement involving approximately 350 opt-in plaintiffs in 2024 in vigorously litigated FLSA collective action brought against federal contractor and subcontractors providing kitchen and catering services for temporary refugee camps.
- Defended nationwide investigations and claims brought by federal agencies, including the Department of Labor and EEOC, involving systemic, class allegations of discrimination and violations of the FLSA.
- Regularly advice large and small employers on FLSA compliance issues, including with respect to classification and regular rate calculation issues.
- Member of a trial team that obtained a $21 million judgment in 2021 against a mortgage lender, capping off nearly a decade of federal RMBS litigation yielding nearly $1.4 billion in total recoveries for the client.
- Defeated a motion in Wisconsin state court in 2021 seeking to dismiss approximately a dozen claims arising from allegations of wrongful competitive activity and misappropriation of trade secrets in Wisconsin state court.
- Successfully argued summary judgment on unpaid commission claims on behalf of a client in Minnesota state court in 2020.
- Member of a litigation team that obtained a complete jury verdict, resulting in a $68 million judgment on claims involving defective mortgage loans, in 2019.
- Successfully argued for a favorable summary judgment outcome in a multi-million dollar claim of contractual indemnification in 2019 against a mortgage originator.
- Obtained affirmance by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals of summary judgment dismissal in 2018 of employment claims arising from the dismissal of an employee who refused mandatory vaccination.
- Obtained defense verdicts in federal jury and state court bench trials, as well as private arbitrations, involving employment discrimination and contract claims asserted against Minnesota-based health care systems between 2013 to 2018.
- Successfully argued for the exclusion of expert opinion testimony submitted in support of claims of discrimination against a hospital arising under the Affordable Care Act.
- Successfully briefed and argued summary judgment dismissal of a whistleblower claim brought by a 20-plus-year employee against a Minnesota nonprofit organization employing over 22,000 individuals.
- Obtained a favorable verdict for a condominium association in a contract dispute with a neighboring property owner following a bench trial.
- Following a trial before an administrative law judge over a service territory dispute, negotiated a settlement whereby an electric cooperative utility client will receive compensation for allowing another utility to serve a large customer located in the client’s service territory.
- Obtained summary judgment dismissal of defamation and discrimination claims brought by a personal care attendant against a nonprofit senior housing, health care and community-based services organization in federal court.
- Following a five-day arbitration, obtained a decision in favor of the defense on all claims brought by a physician against a medical clinic, including claims for breach of contract, whistleblower retaliation, defamation and sex discrimination.
- Obtained a complete defense verdict following a bench trial on claims brought by a long-term employee against a large Minnesota health care system.
- Obtained a complete defense verdict from a federal jury on claims of disability discrimination and failure to accommodate brought by an employee against a large Minnesota employer.
- Second District Ethics Committee
- Minnesota Supreme Court, General Rules Advisory Committee
- Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, Volunteer Attorney
- Hamline University, Paralegal Advisory Board
- Hamline University Mock Trial, Volunteer Judge
- Ramsey County Bar Association, Judges’ Dinner Committee, Former Co-Director
- Minnesota Lawyer, Top Women in Law, 2023
- Minnesota Lawyer, Attorney of the Year, 2021
- Minnesota Super Lawyers, Rising Star, 2014-2023
- Minnesota State Bar Association, North Star Lawyer, 2019
- Minnesota State Bar Association
- Hennepin County Bar Association
- Ramsey County Bar Association
- “The Court Rejects Your Reality and Substitutes its Own,” Spencer Fane WorkSmarts Seminar, September 2022
- “New Civil Discourse Policies Meant to Stymie Polarizing Debates at Minnesota Workplaces,” Star Tribune, August 2024
- “The Legal Fall-Out from Minnesota’s Non-Compete Ban,” Minnesota State Bar Association CLE, March 2024
- “Riding the Wild 2023 Rollercoaster of Evolving Payroll, Deduction, and Wage Law Compliance,” Northstar Chapter Annual Conference, October 2023
- “Riding the Wild 2023 Rollercoaster of Evolving Employment & Labor Law Compliance,” Minnesota Recruiting & Staffing Association Symposium, April 2023
- “The Wild Ride of 2023: New Year, New Laws,” Spencer Fane WorkSmarts Seminar, February 2022
- “I’ll Take Compliance 101 for $200!” Spencer Fane WorkSmarts Seminar, September 2022
- “In the New Hybrid World, Should Employers Be Reimbursing Home-Office Expenses,” Star Tribune, July 2022
- “As Employees Return to the Office, Companies Grapple with Vaccine Tensions,” American City Business Journals, April 2022
- “Supreme Court issues vaccination mandate decisions: Where we stand today,” BenefitsPRO, January 2022
- “COVID Compliance 2022 – A Workshop for HR,” Business Management Daily, January 2022
- “The New Federal Workplace Vaccination and Testing Requirements Have Arrived—Are You Ready?” Spencer Fane WorkSmarts Webinar, November 2021
- “Managing Indefinite and Intermittent Leaves of Absence and Other Tricky Attendance Challenges,” Spencer Fane WorkSmarts Webinar, September 2021
- “COVID Pandemic 2.0 for Employers: Vaccination Issues & Challenges,” Spencer Fane WorkSmarts Webinar, August 2021
- “Civil Litigation A to Z: Case Management-Removal and Remand,” Minnesota CLE, August 2021, 2019, 2017
- “The 2021 U-Turn: What Employers Need to Know About Regulatory Changes,” Children’s Hospital Association Seminar, May 2021
- “Return to Office Update: Employer Challenges and Solutions,” Spencer Fane WorkSmarts Webinar, May 2021
- “Covid-19 . . . 20 . . . 21,” Spencer Fane Healthcare Summit Webinar, April 2021
- “What the American Rescue Plan Means for Employers,” Spencer Fane WorkSmarts Webinar, March 2021
- “American Rescue Plan proposed to provide expanded COVID-19 paid leave and unemployment relief,” BenefitsPRO, February 2021
- “Retaliation Claims: Ten Myths and Truths,” Spencer Fane Virtual Seminar, 2020